Iran Announces It Has Converted 15% Of Its $100 Billion+ In FX Reserves Into Gold

As of today, one of the world’s top oil exporters announced that has exchanged about $15 billion of its FX reserves into gold. Earlier, Iran announced that the country has converted about 15% of its foreign exchange reserves into gold, and “will not need to import the metal for the next ten years.” There is your mystery buyer to all that gold the IMF was selling in Q3… And since Ahmadinejad said that Iran’s total FX reserves exceed $100 billion, the amount of gold in stock held by Iran is more than $15 billion. Which is equivalent more than 345 tonnes at a closing price of about $1350. Which also means that the WGC’s official gold holdings [1]are in dire need of an update, as Iran does not appear anywhere on the IMF’s listing of official gold holders, and with over 345 tonnes, it would make Iran a top 15 holder of the yellow metal.

From Bloomberg:

Iran has changed some 15 percent of its foreign exchange reserves into gold and will not need to import the metal for the next ten years, Mehr reported, citing Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani.

Iran’s gold reserves have “multiplied several times” in the past two years, Bahmani said in a report published late yesterday by the state-run news agency.

Bahmani gave no specific figures, only saying the country consumes 30 tons of gold a year and that the central bank will have “ample supplies for the next 10 years” even if it doesn’t increase its gold holdings further.